Ghosts
by K12T6
Summary: Elcarien returned home from a hunting trip to find his house to be under attack by a large number of bandits. He saves his wife only to find out that their kids are missing. Will they be able find their kids, and live through the ghosts and bad times that remained etched into the home after the bandit attack? (Mild depictions of attempted rape in part of the first chapter)
1. The Attack

**Warning: Mid-to-Late part of this chapter contains mild depictions of attempted rape.**

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><p><span>All rights to the Elder Scrolls series belong to Bethesda.<span>  
><span>This story is for entertainment purposes only.<span>  
><span>No copyright infringement intended.<span>

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><p><strong>Ghosts<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter I: The Attack<strong>

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><p>Elcarien pushed north through a large snow storm on the back of his brown horse. He traveled along the road toward his home of Heljarchen Hall. His vision was largely impaired by the blowing show, and he found it difficult to see more than a few meters in front of him. Much like his vision, his hearing was impaired by the chilling wind that was whipping past his ears. This was a storm that could make even a Nord regret coming outside.<p>

He was returning from his latest hunting trip, one of the many things he took back up after his victory over the World Eater known as Alduin. This one in particular lasted for around a month, and was concentrated in the Falkreath hold. He was relieved that he would once again hold his wife in his arms, and get to spend time with his kids. Time that he was sure that they would enjoy as well.

As Elcarien neared his house, he swore he caught a glimpse of people running away from it. He didn't bother to focus on it through the storm, and passed it off as a lone deer instead. Suddenly his vigilant senses set in as he faintly heard many unfamiliar voices over the storm, though he could not make out what they were saying.

Concerned about the possible danger, Elcarien brought his horse behind cover and dismounted. He grabbed his Elven sword and dagger off of the saddle bags strapped them to his side. They were the only two blades he ever owned since he arrived in Skyrim. Slowly he crept up behind the rocks and peeked over to see what was going on. His house served an advantage by blocking some of the blowing snow, as it allowed him to partially make out the many figures that stood out front. Bandits.

"How come we're stuck out in this damn storm and not inside watching Dandre and Hodlin have a go at this guy's wife?" said one of the two bandits that stood on the other side of the rocks.

The anger Elcarien held began to grow as he spotted the body that rested at the feet of the two bandits. It was Gregor, the Housecarl that was given to him by the Jarl of the Pale upon being granting the title of Thane. Sadness started to join his anger, but he quickly pushed it down so that he could better focus on the task at hand.

"Because, Rogdul, they tasked us with keeping watch for her husband," said the other. "Remember the last time we sent a group here? The damn elf showed up before we could even get in the house!"

"I know... But all seven of us?" argued the first bandit.

The first bandit continued to speak, but Elcarien wasn't listening; he was already running to the back side of his house. He could have easily barged through one of the doors on the side deck, but he acknowledged that by doing so, he could risk having his wife and kids killed.

He had to sneak in.

The only way he could sneak in would be to enter through the hatch on the top of his alchemy tower to the rear of the house.

"Hang in there, Lydia." Elcarien whispered under his breath.

Slowly Elcarien climbed support beams that wrapped around the tower, taking great care to avoid any clear ice that could be covering the beams. The storm that used to be causing him struggle in his ride home, was now starting to aid him. The wind muffled any groans he made while climbing, and the blowing snow likely concealed him from view.

He was over half way up, when a sudden misjudged step caused him to slip and fall. He didn't fall far before he managed to grab another ledge. The sudden stop in momentum caused Elcarien to slam up against the side of the house. The Elven sword strapped to his side unhooked itself from the impact, and fell to the ground below.

"Shit!" Elcarien hissed between clenched teeth.

Not knowing if his crashing into the wall alerted those inside, Elcarien steadied himself and waited in silence to see anyone inside would investigate. No one came, so Elcarien kept scaling the wall.

Upon reaching the top, Elcarien looked through the railing to find there was one guy standing on the lookout, drinking some ale. Knowing that since the bandit was facing in the other direction gave him an advantage, Elcarien took a deep breath and pulled himself up and over the railing.

Elcarien got the bandit's attention, but the bandit didn't get to see him for long before he was met with an angry fist to the face. The bandit stumbled back and clenched his nose with his free hand, and held the bottle up towards Elcarien in a pathetic attempt to defend himself. With adrenaline fuelled anger, Elcarien yanked the bottle from his hand, flipped it so that he was holding by the neck, and smashed the bottom of it on one of the lookout's support posts. Before the bandit could even draw his sword, Elcarien plunged the jagged end of the bottle into his face, and flipped him over the railing. Letting him fall to the hard snow that blanketed the earth the two stories below.

Elcarien let out a huff of slight exhaustion, as the bandit wasn't the lightest, and the bitter cold air wasn't making it any easier.

A sudden scream could faintly be heard coming from inside of the house, drawing Elcarien's attention back to the task at hand.

"Lydia!" he said as opened the hatch entering into the house.

Slowly Elcarien crept down the ladder into his alchemy lab. He opened the door by a mere crack and peered through to see what he was about to walk into. From what the bandit out front had said, he knew there'd be at least two of them. With enough space to maneuver and with a sword in hand, Elcarien could easily take on two bandits. But he was unfortunately forced to do battle inside his own home, with only a dagger.

"No! Stop!" Elcarien heard Lydia cry out from the master bedroom, "Take what you want, just leave me alone!"

Knowing he had to act now Elcarien slowly opened the door, making sure to prevent it from creaking. He crouched down and slowly made his way to the open doorway of the master bedroom. He peered around corner to see what he could do. There were two men on either side of the bed, one was a Breton and the other a Nord. Lydia was cowering on the bed in her undergarments, and covering herself with the bedsheets.

"Come on there, Darling," said the Breton slyly.

"Yeah," said the Nord. "We just want to have a little fun."

"No! Just go!" Lydia cried out, as the Nord bandit began to force himself on her. His Breton partner quickly joining in to help.

Lydia kicked and shoved at her attackers relentlessly.

"It's gonna happen either way," yelled the Nord, as he struggled to keep Lydia still. "Why don't you just save us the ti—" the bandit was cut off as he was suddenly pulled from Lydia. His yells were halted and replaced by the sound of him gargling on the blood that now filled his throat.

A distinctive slushing sound was made as Elcarien pulled his dagger from the back of the man's neck.

"Elcar—" Lydia started to yell, but quickly changed to screaming when she was dragged off the bed by the other bandit.

The Breton held an arm around her, and used his free hand to hold a dagger tightly to her throat. She didn't try to struggle for she feared that doing so would result in her cutting her own throat.

"You should have stayed in your precious forests, elf!" he yelled at Elcarien.

Elcarien moved forward slightly, as if reading himself to lunge at the man.

"Ah ah ah!" the Breton called out as he tightened his grip on Lydia. "Not another step." He glanced down at the dagger Elcarien still held tightly in his hand. "Drop it," he added.

Lydia gave a tiny nod to Elcarien, which was likely the best she could do in her current situation. Elcarien, who wasn't planning on dropping his weapon at first, knelt down and did so upon seeing Lydia's agreement. Once Elcarien's dagger was on the floor and he had stood back up, Lydia felt the bandit loosen his grip on her, as if he was relaxing slightly.

"I've dropped my weapon..." Elcarien began, without breaking eye contact, "Now let her go."

"Oh I don't think I'll do that." chuckled the bandit, "I think I'll have some fun first... I never had a Nord befo—" the bandit cut himself off as he started yelling in pain.

Lydia, who had taken his loosened grip to her advantage, had bit hard into the man's free hand. The bandit dropped his dagger and flung himself away from Lydia as he clenched his hand in pain.

Elcarien was quick to react, and in a single motion he picked his dagger off of the floor and charged at the man who was still holding his bleeding hand. Elcarien slammed him into the wall, causing some things to fall off of the nearby shelf. In pure anger at what the man was about to do to his wife, Elcarien watched the life fade from the bandit's eyes as he repeatedly stabbed him in the gut.

"Okay Elcarien! You've killed him! Stop!" Lydia pleaded through her tears.

Elcarien stopped, but still watched the Breton's eyes intently. He gave his head a shake, breaking the trance like state he seemed to be in. He removed the dagger from the man's gut and dropped it to the floor. Quickly he turned to his wife and embraced her.

"It's okay," Elcarien whispered, beginning to quietly weep over not being here for her when she needed him.

"I'll be fine," she replied, through stuttered breaths. She took her head off Elcarien's chest and looked him in the eyes. "You need to go. Now. Faendal fled to Whiterun with the kids, if they made it they'll be there."

"In this storm?!" Elcarien argued. "They'll freeze to death before they ever make it there. We have to go find them!"

"We?" Lydia questioned. "This housewife lifestyle has gotten to me, I'm not as strong as I used to be when we roamed Skyrim together."

"I'm not leaving you here," Elcarien stated sternly. "I snuck in here. There's at least a half-dozen of those bastards still out there. Besides, they'll need their mother when we find them."

A voice from downstairs interrupted Elcarien and Lydia's conversation.

"Hodlin? Dandre? You guys still in here?" called out a distinctive Argonian voice. "Rogdul's getting to all of us other there. The impatient fool won't stop complaining about how it should be his turn with the wife."

"Shit!" Elcarien hissed as he ran out onto the balcony of the main hall.

The bandit looked up and instantly saw Elcarien staring back at him. The bandit's face quickly turned to a look of shock, and seconds after he darted out the front door from which he had entered.

"Grab something to defend yourself, honey," Elcarien said to Lydia, as he entered back into their bedroom to pick up his dagger.

Several moments past and no one entered the house. Elcarien began to wonder if they were ever going to attack. A look out the window proved to him that they had a different plan in mind. Two bandits stood on the deck in front of the side doors, waiting for someone to exit. It was hard to see through the storm, but it looked as if there were some archers down by the front of the house, arrows knocked and ready to be fired.

They were surrounded.

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><p><strong>Here is the first chapter of my first Skyrim fan fiction, Ghosts. If you enjoyed it feel free comment and let me know what you thought. If you feel there are some areas in my writing where I could improve, feel free to let me know. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.<strong>

**On a side note, if you didn't already know from the opening paragraphs, Elcarien is based of my character. He is a Bosmer whom is very skilled in archery.**


	2. The Escape

All rights to the Elder Scrolls series belong to Bethesda.  
><span>This story is for entertainment purposes only.<span>  
><span>No copyright infringement intended.<span>

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><p><strong>Ghosts<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter II: The Escape<strong>

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><p>"There's only one way we're getting out of this alive," stated Elcarien.<p>

Elcarien made his way over to Lydia's wardrobe and began digging out her set of Skaal outerwear. It was one of the two sets he had gotten when on Solstheim, the other in which he currently wore. Lydia, who had already begun redressing herself in her regular robes, stared momentarily at the heavy coat when it was tossed onto the bed. She watched Elcarien as he proceeded to dig out her steel sword from the long chest that rested at the foot of their bed, and toss it alongside the clothes.

"You can't possibly expect us to survive them?" Lydia argued. "They've got every exit blocked."

Elcarien picked up the chair that sat in the corner of the room. "We've been through worse," he said as he made his way over to one of the narrow windows on the outside wall. "They won't be fighting _us_ anyways."

In a single swift motion, Elcarien smashed out the window with the backrest of the chair. The frigid outside air rushed in to fill the home, chilling Lydia and Elcarien to the bone in a matter of seconds.

"Trying to escape through the window?" mocked a bandit from the nearby deck.

Elcarien ignored his comment without even the slightest change in expression. He turned around to find Lydia had already begun to bundle herself up in the skaal clothing.

"What about your sword?" Lydia inquired.

"It fell when I was climbing the side of the alchemy tower."

It was then that an idea dawned upon Elcarien. There was one exit the bandits likely forgot to block, and it just so happened to be the way he had entered.

Elcarien helped Lydia with some of the buckles on her coat. Over the wind whistling through the shattered window, the two could faintly heard the bandit yelling over the storm - likely to his fellow marauders. When Lydia was ready to go, Elcarien asked her to wait for him in his alchemy lab while he caused a distraction. Elcarien rushed over to the broken window and looked out, squinting his eyes as the storm tore at his face.

"You're not getting out of here alive!" yelled the same bandit as before.

"We shall see..." Elcarien said without raising his voice; it didn't matter if the bandit heard him or not. "OH-DAH-VING!"

Elcarien's Thume cracked through the air, startling all those outside and even causing some to stumble slightly. After a pregnant pause, a dragon roared over the storm in the distance. Seconds later another roar filled the skies, coupled with the yells of the bandits. The distraction was working, and it would likely provide Elcarien and Lydia with the time they needed to escape.

Elcarien stood at the bottom of the alchemy tower with his arms outstretched, ready to catch Lydia should she fall on her descent. Ohdahving's roars echoed through the storm, along with shouts and screams from the bandits as they desperately tried to fight him through the whiteout. Once Lydia was close to the bottom, she jumped down from the wall and landed on her feet with a light thud, the buckles on her outerwear clanking from the movement.

"Where should we start looking for the kids?" Lydia asked, as she approached Elcarien so that she wouldn't have to yell over the wind.

"If they were heading to Whiterun, they might be on–" Elcarien paused. "Wait a second..."

Elcarien recalled the deer he saw running away from his house upon his arrival. Was it a dear? Elcarien remembered he first thought it was people. Maybe it was.

The shouts of a bandit began getting louder as the bandit likely approached. Lydia and Elcarien drew drew their weapons and went back to back. Elcarien faced south to the front of the house, and together they vigilantly waited for the bandit to emerge from the whiteout the storm was causing. After only a few seconds the bandit emerged to Elcarien's left, but was too focused surviving the dragon to notice them. The bandit held a bow with an arrow knocked and pointed skyward. Elcarien gave Lydia a nudge and she turned around. Before she could attack the bandit herself, Elcarien glanced down and noticed the hilt of his Elven sword sticking out of the snow. It rested about half way between him and the bandit, and in an instant, Elcarien knew exactly what he would do.

In a quick motion, Elcarien darted forward and pulled his sword from its sheath, leaving the sheath barely buried under the snow. Without breaking stride Elcarien swiftly slashed the bandit's side in an upward diagonal cut from his left. The bandit's arrow fired as he dropped his bow and clenched his side in pain. He fell to his knees, and Elcarien pushed him on to his back with his boot. The bandit quickly retaliated by drawing a dagger and slashing Elcarien's leg. Elcarien yelped and stumbled back as the dagger cut into him, causing him to drop is own weapon. The bandit sucked in his pain and started to stand up, but before he could reach his feet, Lydia dove in and finished him off.

Elcarien nodded to Lydia. "Thanks."

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Elcarien said. "We'll look at it after, but I don't think it went too deep."

Lydia walked over and picked up the sheath for Elcarien's sword from the snow, and brought it over to him. "You're sure?" said asked in a concerned tone.

Elcarien took the sheath from her hands and placed his sword in it. "Yeah," he said, as he began to strap his sword back to his side. "Faendal and the kids... I think I know where they might have gone."

"Where?" Lydia asked, also sheathing her sword.

"When I arrived here I saw a dear. Or at least I thought it was a dear..." Elcarien admitted. "I think it might of have been them. If that _was_ them, then they headed southwest of here - past Loreius' farm."

"But there's a bandit camp over there!" Lydia cried out.

"Yes, but it is the likely camp that these guys came from," Elcarien stated. "With how many are here today, there's likely only a few left there."

"Then I'll be damned if I just sit here," Lydia stated, as drew her sword and began pushing through the storm to the front of the house.

This spark of determination in Lydia surprised Elcarien. Before she would follow _him_ and any command he may have made. Now the tables were turned. Elcarien quickly took the bow and the quiver filled with arrows off of the bandit Lydia killed, and jogged to catch up with Lydia, who had already cut down two stray bandits without stopping.


	3. The Lions Den

All rights to the Elder Scrolls series belong to Bethesda.  
><span>This story is for entertainment purposes only.<span>  
><span>No copyright infringement intended.<span>

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><p><strong>Ghosts<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter III: The Lion's Den<strong>

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><p>"Are you sure this is the place?"<p>

Elcarien and Lydia stood on a hill north a bandit camp. This camp in particular was surrounded by a log palisade with two gates; one to the east, and another to the south. The storm had subsided some since they'd left their house, so they could now see well enough to forge an attack plan.

"It has to be," Elcarien replied. "The only other nearby camp that I know of is some distance southwest of our home."

"You mean the one set up at the old fort?" Lydia asked. "Well I suppose that makes sense; they are on the roadside. Anytime they need supplies they could just wait for a traveller."

Elcarien nodded, agreeing with Lydia's statement. "Now how do you want to go about breaching this camp?" he asked.

"Why not charge in?" Lydia suggested. "You did say that likely few left there."

"But that few left could still be a fair amount, remember?" Elcarien said. "Please tell me your new lifestyle hasn't gotten to you that much," he added with a chuckle.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt for you to take me out on some of your trips sometimes," Lydia lightly argued.

Elcarien knelt down and cupped some dirt in his hand. He raised his hand and tilted slightly, allowing the dirt to fall slowly back to the ground. The less than gentle winds blew the dirt to the southeast. Upon calculating how he should fire his arrows, Elcarien dropped the rest of the dirt and looked over the hillside.

The perfect vantage point.

"I have an idea," he started. "Sneak up to the northern wall. When you're ready, I'll cover you from here with the bow, while you sneak in through the entrance on the eastern wall."

"I suppose," Lydia agreed with a sigh. "Just don't miss and hit me."

"Have I ever been one to miss a shot? You'll be fine."

Elcarien stood up and began to walk towards the edge of the hill. A sharp, burning pain shot through Elcarien's left leg - the very same leg the bandit had cut him on.

"GAH!" Elcarien yelled out as he fell to his knees.

Lydia rushed over to him and knelt down beside him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I think I'll be fine," Elcarien assured her. "I guess that dagger cut deeper than I thought."

The truth was, Elcarien wasn't fine, and he knew it. A burning pain like that could have only come from one thing.

Poison.

Still Elcarien decided he'd try to push through it, as he didn't wish to cause his wife to worry more than she already was.

"Are you sure?" Lydia inquired. "Shouldn't I have a look at it?"

"It's fine," Elcarien grunted, as he brought himself to his feet. "Just get to the wall. I'll cover you."

Elcarien readied himself as Lydia began making her way down the eastern side of the hill, taking care to stay quiet.

Elcarien knocked an arrow to his bow but did not pull it back. He looked down to the northern wall of the bandit camp, and saw Lydia waiting for an opening. Almost as if Lydia could tell Elcarien was looking at her, she pointed up, gesturing for him to take the guard positioned on top of the rock beside the eastern entrance.

Elcarien pulled his arrow back to full draw. He held his breath and aimed at the bandit. The rock was lower than the hill, so he didn't have to compensate much. After a brief pause, Elcarien let loose his arrow with the snap of the bowstring, and the arrow flew through the air and hit its mark. The bandit clambered and stumbled around with strangled yells as the arrow pierced his shoulder at an angle. In his panic, he tripped and fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Dead.

Lydia heard many people clambering from the other side of the wall - likely moving to cover.

"Did you see where it came from?" she heard a bandit yell.

"From the eastern hills!" yelled another, although he was wrong.

Lydia heard heavy footsteps running for the eastern entrance.

"You two are fools for going out there!" a female bandit yelled from inside the camp.

"Shit!" Lydia hissed, as she began running from away from the entrance.

Two bandits cut loose the bone rattle-trap at the east entrance rushed out into the open. They began looking around frantically for their attacker, and within seconds one noticed Lydia trying to escape.

"Look! There!" he shouted. "Get her!"

The two bandits rushed up to her and cornered her against the northern wall. Lydia had her back to the wall, with one bandit to her front left, and another to her front right.

"Now..." said the bandit to her right. "What do we have here?"

"She's not our archer," said the other bandit.

"What?" questioned the first.

"She doesn't have a bow."

The first bandit shoved Lydia into a wall and held his arm across her upper chest. "Where's your archer?" he yelled.

Lydia glared the bandit in the eyes, proving to him that she wasn't going to say anything.

"Very well.." the bandit said, as he brought his arm back to thrust his sword into Lydia's gut.

An arrow suddenly tore through the air and into the skull of the bandit to Lydia's left.

"What the?!" the bandit yelled, as he shot his view over to his friend, only to watch him fall to the ground. The arrow held his head a few inched off of the ground.

The bandit looked back to Lydia with a angry snarl. Before he could thrust his sword into her gut, Lydia butted her head into his nose, causing him to stumble back.

"You bitch!" he growled, as he clenched his now bleeding nose.

Before Lydia could ready herself for a fight, the bandit lashed forward with his sword and cut her across her left collarbone. Lydia yelled out in pain and held left hand over her wound. She readied herself to fight and let her wound go, as keeping her hand there would only hinder fighting.

The two circled each other and watched intently for the other's attack. Lydia was first to swing her sword. The bandit raised his own, and the two swords clashed with a distinctive clanging sound. The bandit retaliated, and swung his sword in return. Lydia skillfully parried the attack, and quickly returned with her own before he could block. Lydia's sword made contact with his arm, and with a yell of pain, the bandit jumped back.

Elcarien had an arrow knocked and ready to fire. But he dared not make a shot, as Lydia and her attacker were moving to much for a clear shot.

The bandit lunged his sword forward, but Lydia was quick to dodge. She brought her sword to his and spun it out of his hand - disarming him. Before the bandit could think of what to do, Lydia stabbed her sword into his gut and pulled it upwards. Blood dripped from the bandits mouth, and poured from his wound. He fell lifeless, and Lydia pushed him off her blade and heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

Lydia quickly examined her wound. She was lucky - it wasn't extremely deep; the thickness of her coat took on most of the blade.

She quickly but quietly made her way back around to the eastern entrance of the camp. Upon moving in front of it, she heard light footsteps sprinting across the dirt. Before she could react, she was hit hard and tackled to the ground.

"I knew if I waited, you'd walk right where I wanted you," the female bandit said slyly. "Those fools wouldn't know the meaning of patience if their lives depended on it."

Lydia cried out in pain when the bandit put her boot down on the her sword arm, making sure to keep the pressure on. The bandit drew her sword and held its sharp tip to Lydia's throat.

"What do you think?" she asked jokingly. "I just finished sharpening it the other day." She put more weight down on Lydia arm and leaned in closer. "I've been waiting for the day when it would taste blood again. You should feel honoured, you little skan—"

The woman let out a sharp yell as an arrow pierced her side, forcing her off of Lydia as she stumbled from the impact. Lydia was quick to react, and lunged her sword upwards into the bandit's belly. Lydia shoved the bandit from her sword and down onto her back. She put her foot on her bandit's sword arm and held her own sword to her throat - precisely as the bandit had done to her.

"Where are my kids?" Lydia asked angrily.

The bandit laughed as she spit up some blood. In her final and exhausted breath she whispered, "Momma hen lost her chicks?" A brief self-satisfied grin came across her face, before fading away with the rest of her life.

Out of nothing but pure anger, Lydia stabbed her sword into the dead bandit's throat. She began to tear up as she removed her blade. The last thing she wanted to do was to lose hope, but she couldn't stop the thoughts of what could have happened to her children from plaguing her mind.

_By the Nine, if my kids are__–_ Lydia cut her thoughts off short. _No! Don't you think about that! Don't you dare._

Lydia wiped her face of her tears, and walked into the camp to have a look around. As far she could tell, the place was clear. She sheathed her sword, and looked to the eastern hills. With a wave and a whistle, she signalled for Elcarien to join her.

Elcarien stood up and placed his bow on his back. He started walking down from the hill, but after a few steps he began to feel very dizzy. The burning pain from the dagger's poison returned to his leg, and his vision began to blur. In an instant Elcarien felt his legs give way, and he fell to the ground. His head hit the ground hard, and all went black.

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><p><strong>Sorry for the long wait! But here is the next chapter to my story. I hope you enjoy it! Ratings are appreciated! If you have any suggestions on what I could do to improve my writing, feel free to let me know! I'm always happy to hear them.<strong>


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